Authors: Khloe Wren
“He’d still have it. He’s still hung up on Tilly
enough to kidnap her. He’d have kept the house he built for her. You remember
where it is?”
Luca was trying to not focus on his baby brother still
convulsing on the floor in front of his father. His heart ached at the pain his
family was suffering, but the panic over what Cammi was going through was
foremost in his mind.
“Give me the keys Luca, I’ll get us there.”
“You three will have to go without me. I’m not leaving
Rogue.”
Luca went to his Dad and squeezed his shoulder. “Mom
will be here any minute now. He’ll be fine. He’s tough for a cub.”
The tears in his father’s eyes tore at him, but he had
to go. He followed Nate and
Jace
out of the garage
blinking back his own tears. Rogue might annoy the hell out of him most days,
but he was his baby brother and Luca loved him. Tim would pay.
His mother was pulling in as they reached the roadway.
“Dad’s in the garage. We have to go get the girls.”
“Stay safe boys, and bring my new daughter back, along
with Tilly. You bring them both back together, with all three of you. You
hear?”
“Yes ma’am.”
Luca couldn’t help but give a small smile as all three
of them responded at once. He tossed the keys to
Jace
and hopped in the back seat.
“Let’s do this and get our mates.”
****
Nate stretched his neck and rolled his shoulders. He
was fuming that
Cammi
and Tilly had been taken
somewhere. He glanced at the dashboard.
Midnight.
“He’s had the girls what? Six hours now.”
“Yeah, something
like
that.
C’mon
Jace
,
get that memory
kicking in. There can’t be much of Ceduna we haven’t searched.”
“I know, man. I’m sorry it’s taking so long. I was
sure I’d remember how to get there.”
Suddenly the car slowed as
Jace
peered out the windshield. “Fuck, yeah, now this I remember. It’s down this
dirt track. I’m sure of it.
About half mile down on the
left.”
Nate’s palms were sweaty and his breathing picked up
as
Jace
turned down the road. “Okay, this place has
two doors. Front and back. How do you want to go in?”
“We don’t know what he’s got in
there,
I’d say we stick together.”
“Not sure I agree, Luca,”
Jace
said. “He’ll be expecting either me, or you two. Not all three. He thinks we’re
nothing more than savage animals. I reckon you two come in the back and I’ll go
in the front.”
Jace
pulled
the car off the side of the track near a driveway.
Nate could see the glint of house lights through the
trees.
“Just hold up a minute. I’m texting the address to
Dad. We’re going to need the police for this, and maybe an ambulance.”
“Fuck the police. Tim is mine.”
“
Jace
, don’t be stupid, man.
I want a piece of him, too, but all that will do is
tear
you and Tilly apart. Let the police deal with him. He’s kidnapped two women and
will be talking crazy about shifters. He’ll get locked up and be out of all our
hair. And our precious women will still be talking to us.”
Jace
released
a frustrated sigh. “Okay, Luca, point taken. C’mon, let’s get this done.”
Nate left the car and flashed before he bound off
toward the back of the house in his jaguar form. He landed lightly on the back
porch as Luca prowled up the stairs, still in human form. He opened the door
and they both silently crept through into the laundry. Nate’s heart pounded and
a shiver ran down his spine. Cammi was close, he could sense her.
Although, he couldn’t reach her.
In his jaguar form he
should be able to push his thoughts into her mind. The kitchen was clear, and
the lounge room. They met up with
Jace
in the front
room. He was twitching but still in human form. He tilted his head toward the
hallway and presumably, the bedrooms. Nate felt his blood heat with rage. If
Tim had touched his mate, he was a dead man. He didn’t give a fuck about Luca’s
theory of letting the police at him.
The first closed door they approached,
Jace
reached for the handle as Nate
lowered,
ready to pounce on anything inside.
Jace
pushed the
door wide to reveal Tilly bound to a chair.
Jace
ran to
her as Luca searched the room. Nate turned to watch down the hallway. Within
moments Luca was back at his side, and
Jace
sat on
the bed with a sobbing Tilly in his arms. He caught Luca’s gaze and, with a nod,
they silently moved down the hall to take position at the next door. Sirens
suddenly filled the air as the police and ambulance vehicles Luca’s father had
called came closer. Before Luca could open the door, it swung in to reveal Tim.
With a growl, Nate pounced on him, throwing the man onto his back with Nate’s
front paws on his chest and his teeth
bared
.
“Nate! Get off him and flash back. The cops will be
here in a sec and you need to be human.”
With another growl he leapt from Tim and flashed to
human, dressing himself in shorts at the same time. Luca pulled Tim from the
floor and pushed him against the wall with his arm pinned behind his back.
“Be very grateful we’re not the animals you accuse us
of being, Tim, or you’d be a dead man for touching our mate.”
Nate scanned the room. A chair with rope beneath it
had him seething. He continued to look around until he found Cammi lying limply
on the bed, her eyes open and glazed over.
“Oh fuck. Sugar, what’d he do to you?”
He dropped to his knees beside the bed and stroked her
cheek. She flinched away from his touch as fresh tears fell from her eyes.
Nate’s hand dropped away from her face as his heart cracked.
“Don’t cry, Cammi. We’re here now.
Me
and Luca are here. We got you. You’re safe.”
She closed her eyes as more tears tracked down her
face.
What the fuck did you do, Tim?
In
a panic he grabbed her face between both palms, wanting a connection to his
mate. He gasped as her thoughts barreled into his mind.
Is Tim right? Will they attack me? Hurt me. Will I ever be safe? Did I
make the right decision mating and bonding with them?
Before Nate could find the words to tell her she was
wrong, blue and red lights flashed through the house moments before the place
was swarmed with men and women in uniform. Not that Nate cared. He was frozen
to the floor beside Cammi, his heart breaking. Had they lost her to whatever
Tim had done?
“C’mon, Nate.
The medics want to see to her. Tim’s obviously drugged her with
something.”
Nate allowed Luca to pull him up from the floor and
into his arms. Nate readily accepted the strength of his co-mate. Their bond
had grown stronger since the mating. It still wasn’t romantic, but he felt Luca
on a soul deep level he hadn’t before.
“We can’t lose her, Luca. He’s done something to her. When
I cupped her face, I heard her thoughts, as though she was pushing them at me.
Even though I know that wasn’t the case. Whatever Tim did, it made her mind
wide open to me. Tim’s got her scared and questioning everything.”
“We won’t lose her Nate. Not like this. We’ll win her
heart again if we have to. Have faith.”
****
As her limp body was loaded onto a stretcher and
wheeled from the bedroom, Cammi watched Luca and Nate. Her vision was hazy but
she could make out that they clung to each other. Tim’s words whirled through
her mind and she couldn’t make sense of anything. Tim had been cuffed and taken
away a few minutes ago. Didn’t that mean Tim was the one in the wrong? Luca and
Nate followed her out of the house without any police officers near them.
Confusion reigned in her mind and she closed her eyes against it all. Cammi reopened
them when she felt the bumps as she was loaded into the ambulance.
“One of you boys coming with us or meeting us there?
Can’t really fit both of you in here.”
Cammi could feel their stares bore into
her,
unfortunately she couldn’t move any part of her body.
Even if she could, she didn’t know what to do. More tears left her eyes as she
heard the men say they’d meet them at the hospital. The doors closed and the
vehicle began to move. A radio crackled from the front of the vehicle. Male
voices spoke, but Cammi couldn’t focus on the sounds. She felt a cuff being
placed around her upper arm, and pressure on her fingertip as a monitor was
clipped on. Her shirt was unbuttoned and cold patches attached to her chest.
Her mind continued to spin and all the machines beeping in the small space
didn’t help. Her breathing picked up as she began to panic. A mask was placed
over her face and she struggled to get free from it. She didn’t want to be
smothered. Finally her arms responded and she raised them to rip the mask free.
The men grabbed her and pinned her down to the bed. She heard
velcro
rip and felt its firm hold
against her flesh. She cried out in frustration and thrashed her head. The men
were talking, but her ears were over sensitive now. Her eyes were, as well, and
she closed them against the suddenly bright lights. She felt a tight grip on
her arm above where she was strapped down and then the sting of a needle. Cammi
tried to scream, though no sound came out. Her tongue still felt thick in her
dry mouth. She felt tingling up her arm as whatever they gave her wound its way
through her body. Her mind settled instantly. She took a deep breath and relaxed
against the hard mattress.
The bed jerked and she squinted to see them wheel her
from the ambulance and into the hospital. The lights didn’t seem so bright now.
People spoke over her as she was moved into a large room. She couldn’t
concentrate to follow the conversation, but phrases like ‘mind-incapacitating
drug’ and ‘rape kit’ caught her attention. She felt more tears track down her
face and her body began to shake. What had Tim done to her? He’d told her he
wouldn’t ever hurt her … but he had and she couldn’t remember precisely how
badly.
Chapter
Seven
Luca sat next to Nate in
Cammi’s
room, waiting for her to wake up. He hated that she was strapped to the bed. The
doctor had told them she’d become agitated on the ride over to the hospital.
Nate caught his attention as he sighed and scrubbed his face in his hands.
“She’ll be fine, Nate. The doc is sure the drugs will
be completely out of her system soon, if not already. She’s just worn out and
sleeping.”
“You didn’t see her face back in that room, Luca.
Physically she’ll be fine, but I’m not so sure she’s going to feel the same way
toward us after Tim was in her head for six hours straight.”
Cammi groaned and Luca shot to his feet and went to
her side. Nate appeared at her other side.
“Hey
darlin
’, how you
feeling?”
Luca couldn’t resist touching her. He ran his fingertips
over her face before palming her cheek. She slowly turned into his caress and
lightly kissed his palm as he felt her inhale against his skin. Relief poured
through him at her show of affection. The way she turned into his touch left
her gaze level with Nate’s. Luca watched them stare at each other a moment
before Nate lowered toward her. Luca slipped his hand down to her neck as Nate
gently took her mouth. Cammi hummed as Nate sipped at her lips. Suddenly she
stiffened, and Nate pulled back.
“What’s wrong, sugar? I didn’t hurt you did I?”
She shook her head slightly before she glanced down to
her hands.
“Why … my arms?”
Her voice was raspy and her speech broken.
“You got a little active earlier. Let me call the
nurse in and we’ll get you freed up.”
Luca reached to press the call button and watched as
Nate brought a cup of water with a straw to her lips. She eyed the cup
suspiciously a moment.
“It’s just water, sugar. You’re in hospital now. No
more tricks or drugs. Luca and I would never do that to you.”
She took a small sip, waiting a minute before
returning to the straw to drain the drink. Fury ran through Luca at her lack of
trust in something as simple as a drink of water. He was starting to wonder
about his wisdom in letting the police take Tim away before he could beat the
holy hell out of the bastard. As Nate refilled her cup a nurse came in and
checked Cammi over.
“She looks good. All her vitals are back to normal.
I’ll just double check with the doctor although she should be able to go home.”
The nurse quickly removed the straps from
Cammi’s
wrists before she moved from the room. Luca stepped
back to the bed and lifted her hand to his lips where he kissed the soft flesh
of her inside wrist. She flexed her fingers and cupped his face. He closed his
eyes on a sigh as he nuzzled into her palm. She was going to be okay, and she
still wanted them.